NBC Sports will commence World Cup broadcast in Levi; Soelden not on calendar
The opening Alpine World Cup races in Soelden, Austria this weekend are not expected to be broadcast on NBC Sports or any of its affiliated streaming services, an NBC spokesman has confirmed to Ski Racing Media.
Media rights to Austrian races are sold independently from the rest of the FIS Alpine World Cup events, and those rights-holders have not completed an agreement with any U.S. media company to present those races.
NBC’s World Cup coverage will commence on Nov. 21-22 with coverage of the women’s slaloms in Levi, Finland. The remainder of the schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
The schedule for Levi is as follows:
| Olympic Channel | 11/21 | Saturday | 7:00 AM (ET) Live | Women’s Slalom – Levi, Finland |
| NBCSN | 11/21 | Saturday | 12:00 AM (ET) Replay | Women’s Slalom – Levi, Finland |
| Olympic Channel | 11/22 | Sunday | 7:00 AM (ET) Live | Women’s Slalom – Levi, Finland |
“We’re proud of our ski and snowboard programming and will present hundreds of hours of coverage this year; however, we do not have media rights to events in Austria,” said Chris McCloskey, vice president of communications for NBC Sports Group.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard confirmed the lapse in coverage.
“Broadcast and digital distribution are negotiated between the event’s rights holder and media companies,” said Andrew Gauthier, marketing and communications director for the organization. “We are as disappointed with this situation as anyone, but we do not control the media rights to Austrian races.”
About the Author: Geoff Mintz
